Thatcher was a friend of freedom

Margaret Thatcher, dead at age 87 of a stroke, shook Britain out of its "winter of discontent" more than three decades ago while she towered over the second half of the 20th century like few other leaders. Her economic policies reshaped a sick nation that had lost its way and its spirit, and her sharp international instincts and unyielding commitment to freedom helped destroy the Iron Curtain.

Deeply loved by those who agreed with her and despised by those who did not, the woman appropriately named the "Iron Lady" by the Soviet press unleashed the forces of capitalism in a sickly British economy and, in the words of Prime Minister David Cameron, "took a country that was on its knees and made it stand tall again."

Throughout her commanding tenure of leadership, she proved one of America's strongest allies and one of her American counterpart's closest friends. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher may have disagreed on occasion, but they will be remembered as unrelenting defenders of free-market principles and fearless opponents of tyranny.

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born in 1925 in Grantham, England, the daughter of a grocer who also was a Methodist lay preacher. She followed her father around as he campaigned for minor offices and discovered, as she once said, that "politics was in my bloodstream." For a woman of that time and with conservative political values, she broke through gender stereotypes of the day and enthusiastically embraced politics. Her reward was a party that realized her power and accepted her leadership.

Though not born to privilege, she married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman who afforded her the financial independence to pour herself into politics. Mrs. Thatcher rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party, and was elected prime minister in 1979. "I came into office with one deliberate intent," she said as reported in The New York Times. "To change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society, from a give-it-to-me to a do-it-yourself nation."

Her philosophy had a sharp edge, and the lingering animosity toward her policies was reflected in some of the comments this week. Representative of those views was Paul Kenny, a labor union leader quoted in The New York Times, who said Mrs. Thatcher would be "remembered by many for the destructive and divisive policies she reigned over."

What was clear, however, to all but her most strident critics, was that Thatcher inherited a nation in economic shambles, and through tough and painful policies, revived the economy and freed it from the choking grip of trade unions.

On the international stage, Thatcher caught the world's attention when she reacted with swift force, and against the advice of many close advisers, when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982. Even with the Reagan administration urging restraint and pushing for more time for a peaceful solution, Thatcher moved decisively to reclaim the remote British islands and in doing so demonstrated a spine of steel when under fire.

Those who suffered under Communist rule had no more loyal friends than Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. It was Thatcher, though, who was credited with first recognizing change was possible with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and that the West could "do business" with him.

One of the most touching tributes this week came from Radek Sikorski, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain and now is Poland's minister of Foreign Affairs. Writing in Britian's Telegraph, he recalled an existence where the necessities of life were rare and books were banned. Thatcher, along with Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, were the anti-communist "Holy Trinity," he wrote, and they "altered the fate of the West, and consequently the fate of those outside it."

Despite what her critics might say, Sikorski wrote, Thatcher "got the big picture right. She stood on the side of the angels in the Cold War and provided leadership for as long as the Soviet Union needed to be challenged."

Margaret Thatcher led her country for 11½ years - the longest tenure of a prime minister in the 20th century. Her international profile for that century is second only to Winston Churchill. She was a decisive leader, sure of her principles and unflinching in the execution of her policies. She was, without a doubt, a faithful friend of freedom.